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Evaluation of Energy Efficiency Policy Measures for Household Refrigeration in Australia (2.9 MB).
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This report was prepared by Dr Kevin Lane (consultant, Oxford, UK) and Lloyd Harrington (Energy Efficient Strategies, Australia) for the Equipment Energy Efficiency Committee (E3) under contract to DCCEE.
Refrigerators and freezers consume approximately 12% of the residential electricity in Australia, and there is a long history of regulating such products to improve efficiency, mainly through introducing Energy Rating Labels and in more recent years, through setting Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS).
Ongoing evaluation of these previous policy measures is an integral part of the process of good regulation and policy making. It is important to establish whether projected energy savings prior to the implementation of a program are actually realised after implementation. There are many factors that can change over time that can affect future energy savings projections. Therefore, it is important from time to time to examine these factors to understand what has changed and to review whether more robust assumptions are required when conducting future appraisal studies and evaluations. These types of comparisons, although somewhat complex, help to ensure that we improve and refine our projections in the future.
The main aims of this study are to:
In addition, the study also aims to examine changes in the:
As an additional component of analysis, this study has used every available data source for refrigerators back to the early 1980s to refine the energy saving estimates arising from all previous program measures for household refrigeration introduced since the introduction of energy labelling in 1986.
The present evaluation analysis shows that Australian energy efficiency policies for household refrigeration products have reduced energy consumption significantly, even more than previously estimated. By the end of 2009, the annual energy savings due to all policy measures on refrigerators was around 5.9 TWh/year. Most (around 4.1 TWh/year) is attributed to energy labels introduced from 1986, thus policies from the late 1990s onwards will have realised an estimated energy savings of around 1.8 TWh/year per annum by 2009. By 2020, the projected energy savings from these later policy measures will more than double, with savings attributed to the policies from the late 1990s onwards at around 4 TWh/year.
The energy savings from these measures can be expressed as financial savings for consumers in energy costs avoided, as well as reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The 5.9 TWh/year of electricity savings in 2009 was based on a more conservative scenario represents reduced carbon emission in excess of 5 MtCO2, or about 1% of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions. These savings represent considerable financial savings to Australian households from reduced electricity bills. By 2009 the policies considered have saved around AUD$1billion. These financial savings and carbon emissions reductions will continue to accrue through to 2020 and beyond.
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